Reading is FUNdamental
David Bozetarnik
“Reading is FUNdamental.” That’s the campaign slogan I remember from my childhood. When I was growing up, reading was greatly emphasized. After all, it is basic to one’s education, in any country and in any language. In the word “fundamental,” the “fun” was an important part of getting one to read. A person will read more when they enjoy it. The irony is that even though I teach reading on a daily basis, one day earlier this year I realized that I was not reading much myself, for fun that is. I was reading the news and all that, but I was not reading to enjoy. I am now, again.
Not only does one enjoy the content of what one is reading, but it is an important in detoxing from the news of everyday life. It seems each day there is something depressing happening in the world, and it can really drag one down. Reading helps provide a buffer from all this, as you enter the world of whatever story you happen to be reading, fiction or non-fiction. A selection of poetry, a techno-thriller, or a band of interstellar do-gooders out to save the galaxy from the evil empire—they each act as a massage, smoothing out the knots of mental tension that build up in our lives. It is a healthy form of escapism; one cannot escape the gravity of Earth in a high-flying jet aircraft, but one can still soar to incredible heights that cause a therapeutic type effect when “back on the ground.”
Choosing a book with a light-hearted theme, or a happy ending, serve to remind one that not all is negative in the world. It is important to not just read but to read stories that help restore one’s mental balance, one’s equilibrium. One can then rejoin the real world, insulated at least for a while, the rough seas that await one “out there.”
Basically, reading helps increase one’s resilience. The more of a mental break one takes from time to time, the stronger one becomes. I bend, for example, but I do not break. Reading is one way that I have managed this, at one or another point in my life. You should embrace reading too. It insulates you from the outside world, while at the same time strengthening you while in it. Try it.
